Duel of Speed
by Twin-One
Summary: A new visitor comes to Radiator Springs and causes nothing but trouble. Much to everyone’s relief, McQueen has a plan to teach the bully a few lessons when he’s challenged to a speed duel.
1. A Regular Speed Demon

**Author's Note:** I have seriously fallen in love with Pixar's latest movie, 'Cars' and this is my very first Cars related fanfic. I do hope everyone enjoys it. This fic takes place after the Cars movie so LightningMcQueen is now living in Radiator Springs.

**Spoiler Warning: **If you have not yet had a chance to see Cars and are trying to remain spoiler free, don't read this fic because there may be spoilers later on in future chapters (There may even be some in this first chapter too. Just depends on how strict you are when it comes to spoilers.). You can do whatever you want, but I'm just warning everyone that there may be spoilers. Especially to you who may live in the UK, since I've read that it hasn't come out there yet.

**Disclaimer:** I am only a fan and do not own anything of Cars! All characters, names and anything else pertaining to Cars are owned and copyrighted by their rightful owners (Disney/Pixar). The only thing I own is the fanfic itself and any fan-made characters that were created by me exclusively for the story. This fanfic and any of my other fanfics may not be copied, altered, edited or posted elsewhere without my permission. For those of you who may speak another language please feel free to translate my story into your native language for better understanding and your personal enjoyment ONLY, or to show to a friend that may not speak English.

**Rated G –** All age enjoyment

* * *

The four teenage street racers raced at top speeds through the desert. In the lead was Wingo, a small green and purple painted Nissan Silvia tuner with a fancy spoiler so tall you could use it as a ladder. Others that followed were Boost, DJ and Snot Rod, whose occasional sneezes would emit unexpected bursts of flames out his exhaust pipes. The booming and rumbling rock music that followed the group was courtesy of DJ, a beautiful blue colored Toyota Scion xB who could otherwise be referred to as a rocking jukebox on wheels. After serving their time in the Radiator Springs impound, they were free to go cruising all they wanted through the barren and rocky fields that surrounded the area. Glad to get away from the impound and the hard and dirty roadwork they had been forced to do, they were all relieved to be free again.

"Hey! Check this one out!" Snot Rod shouted as he tipped up on his two back wheels in a wheelie and sped forward past DJ, Wingo and Boost. The impressive trick only lasted for a few seconds before another sneeze brought him back down to the ground and nearly succeeded in throwing him into a small cactus patch. The others burst out laughing and sped up themselves. After getting enough speed, Wingo tipped up in a wheelie and continued in that state for at least 3 minutes before gracefully coming back down. He spun around and quickly stopped right at the edge of a small cliff that overlooked the interstate below. The others came to a halt around him.

"That, my friend, is the way it's supposed to be done." Wingo grinned at a bewildered Snot Rod. Another sneeze and burst of flames came from the pitiful car. Everyone ignored him and peered out over the cliff's edge.

"What's that?" Boost gestured towards a massive dust cloud that appeared to be moving at remarkable speed down the interstate. Whatever it was, was moving fast enough to kick up dust on the sides of the road to create a cloud of moving brown smoke. All of the cars curiously looked in the direction of it while DJ's music continued to blare through the quietness.

"Shut that music off!" Boost said, irritably. "Or switch to Brahm's Lullaby!"

DJ's eyes widened and immediately he switched off his music. The air was silent except for the dust cloud beyond. The faint roar of an engine could be heard in the midst of it.

"Could it be a dust storm?" DJ suggested. No one answered him as they kept their eyes on the impressive sight. The cars on the interstate sped off the road to keep from slamming into the unseen force that moved like a bullet as the dust cloud approached, and then looked on in awe when it finally roared by them.

"There's a car in there!" Boost blurted out.

"And he's cutting across the field and heading towards Radiator Springs." Wingo finished while watching the car suddenly take a turn and speed its way over the rocky and barren ground, kicking up even more dust than when it had actually been on the road.

"That dude isn't going to stop for anything." Said DJ.

"You'd better believe it." Boost almost laughed. "I think he would run into a cactus and it wouldn't even bother him."

"We'd better go warn everyone."

"You think they'll listen to us?" DJ turned to Wingo. "They just let us go after impounding us for speeding."

"No way am I going to pull Bessie again!" Snot Rod interrupted before sneezing. "And that Sarge is a killer."

"They'll have to listen to us. I don't like the looks of that car down there."

"Cars speed all the time, man. I don't see what's so strange about it." Said Boost.

Yet another sneeze and burst of flames came from Snot Rod. Wingo glanced at him and then turned his attention back to Boost.

"Somehow I have this feeling, like, there's more to it than just a speeding car." He turned toward the cloud of dust again. "It could be trouble."

All four cars stood and silently watched the cloud as it ripped through the dry field, not bothering to stop for rocks and what little shrubbery there was. It was clear that whoever or whatever it was wasn't going to stop for anything, and by this time it had picked up speed and moved even faster.

Lightning McQueen roughly dipped the squeegee into the bucket of soapy water and then slapped it against the window of one of the Cozy Cone buildings, careful not to get any water or soap suds on his lucky stickers. Birds were chirping in the distant and there was even a nice soft breeze in the air. McQueen sighed to himself as he pushed the squeegee up the window and back down. It was too beautiful of an afternoon to spend washing windows. Instead he'd much rather be out racing with Doc Hudson. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but Sally somehow managed to trick him into an afternoon of cleaning. His main job was washing all of the windows around the Cozy Cone, after that he was to go to Sally for his next job assignment. McQueen shuddered at the thought of what else she had in mind to take up the rest of the afternoon. Although he didn't mind all that much; he'd do anything for Sally.

McQueen let the squeegee slack a little as he thought about his beautiful Porsche. As if reading his mind, Sally slowly drove by him at that moment.

"Hey, Stickers." She grinned. "How's it coming?"

"It's coming along great!" McQueen smiled and hastened his window washing to show her he was indeed working.

"Haven't you finished washing the windows on that cone yet? Seems like you've been at it an hour."

McQueen grinned, "I'm almost finished."

"Uhh… that's the first cone, you know. You're going to be at this all day if you don't speed up."

"Yeah, I know." He continued to grin. "Don't worry. Once I get over this one, I'll have this squeegee broken in. You see, you have to start these things out slow. Otherwise they may scratch up your windows really bad and I know you don't want that."

Sally shook her head pitifully at McQueen's excuse.

"When I get to the other cones, I'll go so fast the wind from my speed will dry the water."

"I'll have to see that to believe it."

McQueen continued smiling at Sally as she went on by and into one of the cones where she was busy dusting. Even though Sally was well out of sight McQueen kept on gazing in the direction she disappeared in, the soapy suds carelessly running down the handle of the squeegee and onto his tire.

"Oh, yuck!" McQueen's attention was drawn to the icky feeling of the suds, which by this time had reached into the grooves of his hubcap.

"Hehee! What's wrong?"

He looked around to see Mater driving up behind him, grinning his buck-tooth smile as usual.

McQueen sighed, "Nothing. Just got soap on my hubcap."

"Is it because you wuz thinkin' 'bout Sally?"

McQueen gave Mater a glare.

"Oh come on. It's not a secret anymore. Why, all of Radiator Springs knows you love her. You've been going on long drives, taking her to dinner and the movies, and giving each other those loooong stares."

McQueen blushed, although it was hard to tell since he was already red all over. He dropped the squeegee into the bucket and took a towel and wiped his tire off.

"And then there wuz that afternoon when the both of you went fishin'."

"That was her idea." McQueen corrected.

"So? You both wuz doing somthin' together… alone."

McQueen sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ok, I love her." he finally breathed. "She's all I can think about."

"I knew it!" Mater laughed and slapped the pavement with his tire.

"Mater, don't you go spreading that around."

"Don't have to, buddy. I just told ya all of Radiator Springs knows it." Mater grinned more. "So when are ya gonna marry her?"

McQueen looked at Mater in a stunned way.

"Marry?" The words almost caught in his throat.

"O' course!"

"I haven't thought that far yet." McQueen forced a smile. "And keep it down, will you? Sally's around there." he gestured toward the cone Sally had gone into moments before.

"Oh! Right." Mater winked.

Lightning watched as Mater started to roll away, but before he could get far the four street racers came zooming into town and past the Cozy Cone.

"If that don't beat all!" Mater turned to McQueen.

"What was that?" Sally came out of one of the cones.

"Those speedin' youngsters again." Mater looked down the street. "At least I think it wuz them. It wuz either them, or those jackalopes have gotten a lot faster since I last remembered."

"Let's go find out." Lightning revved up his motor and took off with Mater following. Sally shouted something behind them about McQueen finishing cleaning her windows, but the young race car pretended he didn't hear.

Lightning and Mater slowly pulled up just outside of Flo's V8 Café where the street racers had come to a stop after knocking over several displays of oil bottles and other lubricants. McQueen and Mater exchanged glances as they stood and stared at the chaos that was unfolding. Flo was busy complaining about her scattered merchandise and Sheriff and Doc Hudson were bawling the young cars out. Wingo and Boost tried to tell Sheriff what they had seen, but the old police car wouldn't give them a chance and threatened to lock them away again if they didn't behave themselves. Fillmore, Sarge, Red, Ramone, Guido, Lizzie and Luigi silently stood off to the side and watched the situation.

"And what are you going to do about all of this?" Flo pointed to the scattered oil bottles all over the pavement. "I already stacked them once and I'm not going to do it again."

"Look, we're sorry for bursting in here like this and we'll pick up the bottles, but we've got to tell you something!" Boost almost shouted over the chaos. After that everyone started shouting and talking at once again.

Feeling someone pull up, McQueen turned to see Mack come to a halt beside him.

"What's going on?" he asked, referring to the commotion in front of him.

"I have no clue." McQueen sighed. "Sounds like the street racers want to say something, but Sheriff won't give them a chance to."

"They pulled in here in an aw'ful hurry." Mater added. "Must be somethin' important."

"Mack, would you mind doing the honor for me?" McQueen smiled.

Mack nodded and then blew a deafening blast of his horn, causing everyone within listening distance to jump and cringe and look in the direction the sound had come from.

"Gracious, Mack, do you wanna break every window in the place?"

"Sorry, Flo, but McQueen told me to."

"I had to get your attentions somehow." McQueen turned to the poor truck. "Thank you, Mack." he breathed before rolling forward. "Sheriff, give them a chance to say what they have to say. Maybe it's important."

Wingo smiled at McQueen. At least someone was kind enough to listen.

"I doubt if it's important. All they're here to do is to cause trouble." Sheriff huffed.

"What is it that you wanted to tell us?" McQueen asked, stopping in front of Boost and Wingo.

"There's something coming towards Radiator Springs." Boost started. "We saw it on the interstate. All of the other cars had to move off the road just to avoid collision with it. By the way it looks; it's built for speed and nothing else."

"Sure was kicking up a powerful dust cloud." DJ smiled.

"It finally made a turn and started ripping through the field, going over rocks and everything!" Wingo said excitedly.

"We just thought we'd warn you of it because it didn't look good to us."

"It looked like trouble." Wingo added.

"Another speeder, huh?" Sheriff mused. "Well, he'll get it once he comes into my territory."

"Can we go now?" DJ asked hopefully.

"Hold on, what about these?" Flo again pointed to the bottles. Wingo glanced down at them and then up at Flo. Quickly he began picking them up and sloppily stacked them. DJ and Boost drove over and helped him, but all three together just couldn't seem to make the bottles stand on their own and the pyramid toppled over, again spilling the bottles all over the pavement.

"Do it right or don't do it at all, hon." Said Flo.

"How on earth did you ever get these stacked the first time?" Wingo complained, setting a bottle carefully on top of another one. Flo could only sigh at the sight in front of her.

It was a struggle, but the street racers finally got the bottles back the way Flo had stacked them early that morning. Snot Rod rolled himself over next to Wingo and admired the work. Wingo could only eye him with an uneasy feeling.

"Dude, you'd better get away from there." he worriedly backed up and away from the sneeze-prone hot rod.

"What's his problem?" Luigi asked.

"Everything is his problem."

At that very moment, Snot Rod started to wrinkle his nose in an attempt to sneeze. Wingo could only close his eyes and imagine what was to come in the next few seconds. There was a huge sneeze, a burst of flames and the sound of bottles scattering. The four cars groaned.

"Sorry." Snot Rod grinned. "But when you have to, you have to."

"Nice going, Sneezy!" Boost growled angrily. "Now we've got to stack these blasted bottles again!"

"We're never going to get out of this town!" Groaned DJ.

"Is it really that bad?" McQueen smiled. The four racers gave the young race car a long stare before turning back the oil bottles. In the distant, the faint roar of a motor could be heard approaching the café. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention towards the direction in which it was coming from. Along with the noise, a cloud of dust could be seen.

"Look! There it is!" Wingo shouted before taking off with Boost, DJ and Snot Rod in pursuit. Taken back by the sudden confusion, Sheriff glanced around him for the street racers, but they were no where to be seen. Already they were speeding down the street in the other direction. Sheriff sighed to himself and then turned his attention to the impressive sight coming towards the café.

"Hey! What about these bottles?" Flo shouted after the young hot rods. "You'd better get your tails back here and stack these!"

"It's no use, Flo, they're long gone." Sheriff sighed.

"What _is_ that thing?" Said Sarge, turning everyone's attention back to the cloud.

"A tornado?" Mack titled his head curiously.

"No, man, a tornado would be shaped more like a funnel." Fillmore said in his slow voice.

"It's a monster!" said Mater, about to go into a panic and quickly driving around to the other side of Mack.

"Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't collide with my café." Flo worriedly said aloud to no one in particular as she kept her eyes on the approaching dust storm.

"He's definitely going to get six months impound if I have anything to say about it." Sheriff narrowed his eyes. "The nerve of that character speeding through my territory that fast!"

"It's getting closer." Fillmore slowly added.

Everyone took cover as the unseen roaring monster sped into the café area, spreading dirt and dust all over. Whatever was inside it suddenly and quickly came to a stop with a terrible screeching of brakes. The cloud of dust that constantly surrounded it finally settled and out of it rolled a black, customized 1955 Thunderbird having red stripes down both sides and a motor that protruded through his hood. His eyes were an unusual red, adding even more to his menacing looks. The car casually shook the remaining dirt and dust off him as well as several dried up plants and brush.

Flo cautiously rolled out of her office and peered in the direction of the stranger. The rest of the group slowly rolled out of their hiding places, too, when they saw that it was nothing but a fellow car.

"That was some cool driving, stranger." McQueen laughed as he approached the Thunderbird.

The old car turned a sharp gaze towards the young race car, more out of daring than anything. McQueen swallowed his next words and stopped.

"May I help you?" Flo asked the stranger.

For awhile the stranger remained silent and stared at the cars that were slowly and carefully driving up around him. He especially kept his eyes on McQueen, which made the young car rather uncomfortable. McQueen couldn't put his tire on it, but for some reason he got an uneasy feeling whenever he looked into the face of this stranger. Maybe Wingo and Boost had been right about this being trouble.

"Sir? May I help you?" Flo, again, asked. "This isn't a museum. We aren't on display."

"Ah, forgive me." the Thunderbird finally said in a deep and menacing voice while shaking his head. "The hot sun can do funny things to your mind, especially after driving in it all day long."

McQueen gave the strange car in front of him an uneasy look.

"The name's Markus T. Bird, but you can just call me Markus." He smiled and then winked in Flo's direction. Ramone gave the newcomer a sharp look, but it went unnoticed.

"I've come along way and I heard about this lovely little town called Radiator Springs and how two racing legends live here. So I thought I'd stop by and have a look at the place." The Thunder Bird grinned.

"Well, this is Radiator Springs!" Flo cleared her throat.

"So I see." Markus shifted his eyes toward McQueen again. "And who might you be, small stuff?"

"McQueen." McQueen's eyelids went up. "Lighting McQueen. Ka-chow!" He grinned.

"Uh huh." Markus coolly flashed Flo another grin and wink.

"I take it you've never heard of me."

"Oh, I've heard of you." Markus puffed up. "It's just that you look so different in person than you do on TV."

"What do you mean by that?" Lightning was becoming just a tad flustered at this newcomer's attitude.

"I didn't expect you to be such a," Markus arched himself up, making himself appear taller and bigger. "Pipsqueak."

McQueen gasped and started toward Markus, but Doc Hudson rolled in front of him to stop him.

"I can't believe I came all the way here to see this." Markus laughed. "What happened? Did your mommy get tired of looking at you so she gave you permission to go into racing in hopes of you crashing? Pipsqueak! I came all the way here to see a baby."

"Hey! That's my friend you're talkin' to!" Mater shouted, making his way over to the old Thunderbird. "The one you're calling a pipsqueak!"

"So what are you going to do about it, buck teeth?" Markus sharply turned to eye Mater in the face.

"Hey, hey you guys." Flo interrupted. "Knock it off!"

"She's right." Sheriff rolled forward. "Listen, I don't want any trouble here. If you've come here to visit our town, we won't stand in your way. But if you've come here with plans to stir up trouble, we have laws here like they do anywhere else. You've already succeeded in breaking the speed limit. That's enough for me to drag you in."

Markus cowered and turned to Sheriff. The police car gave Markus a stern stare that said he'd better behave himself or else. Markus only looked at the ground.

"We don't appreciate folks coming around here and making fun of us and trying to make a nuisance of themselves." Said Doc Hudson. "So if I were you, I'd be a little more careful and more respectful of others in the future. We all get cranky sometimes, but driving all day in the hot sun doesn't give you the right to pick fights with total strangers."

"Yeah!" Ramone pushed his way through. "And you just keep your eyeballs off my wife!"

Markus raised his eyebrows at the feisty car. "Your wife?"

"Yeah, the one you've been winking at ever since you pulled up here." Flo narrowed her gaze. "At least I take it that you've been winking at me. Either that or some of that dust found its way into your eyes."

"Oh! Yes! Dust in my eyes. That's exactly what it is." Markus blinked and groaned as if he were in pain and as if his eyes were really stinging. He tried and tried, but his eyes weren't going to water like he had planned on. Mack, Mater and McQueen all shook their heads at the obvious acting. Sheriff wasn't impressed or convinced, and neither was anyone else.

"Flo," Sheriff quietly whispered while pulling up beside the female show car. "Serve this joker and try to get him out of here. I'm going to keep my eyes on him. I think those hot rod youngsters were right in this being trouble."

"I gotcha." Flo answered. "Want me to put some hot sauce in his tank?"

Sheriff looked at Flo in a funny way.

"I'm just kidding." she chuckled.

"Better save it. You might need to do it later." Sheriff smiled before driving away.


	2. Trouble at the Cozy Cone

It had been a long day, with the stranger coming and all. After the little upset at the café, Markus drove off to sightsee and to take a drive out in the open country. Everyone had agreed to keep their eyes on the visitor as much as possibly without it seeming like they were spying on him. If Markus was to pose any sort of threat to anyone, they were to report it to Sheriff immediately. As much as he hated to, the old police car let Markus off with a warning instead of bringing him in for speeding. But Sheriff wasn't going to admit that he was hoping and waiting to catch Markus doing something else that he could really slap him in the impound for. Somehow he knew deep down that he would soon have his fun. He didn't trust Markus to remain in Radiator Springs without causing another upset.

When Lightning McQueen wearily pulled up into the lot of the Cozy Cone, it was already night. Mack and Mater slowly followed behind him. Sally had just finished the windows McQueen was supposed to have done and placed the squeegee into the bucket of dirty, soapy water. She sternly glared in McQueen's direction as he pulled up beside her.

"I suppose you've returned to finish up these windows."

Lightning smiled sheepishly at her. "I can explain, Sally."

"Yeah, I bet you can."

"No, he's right. He can explain." Mack said with a yawn.

"You see, Sally, we have a new visitor in town."

"A new visitor? Great! Will he be staying here?" Sally's face beamed with excitement.

"No, no, Sally, you don't understand." McQueen sighed. "Believe me; this guy will be better off sleeping out in the open. He's a total snob and jerk."

"He had the nerve to pull up at the café today and start calling everyone names! Even my buddy!"

"Flirting with Flo too." Mack added.

"He got everyone flustered and nearly started a huge fight right there." McQueen fought back a yawn.

"Did he give his reasons?" Sally asked.

"Nope." Mater shook his head. "Only that he'd been driving out in the heat too long and it fried his mind."

"He didn't put it in quite that way." Mack turned to the old tow truck. "He said that the hot sun does funny things to your mind."

"Well if you ask me his mind was fried."

"Anyway," Lightning cleared his throat. "To make a long story short, Sheriff wanted all of us to help keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't cause anymore trouble. Sheriff's already got enough to slap him in the impound because of his speeding through here. But Sheriff wants just one more thing before he does that."

"What if he doesn't do one more thing?"

Lightning shrugged. "Beats me."

"And his name is?"

"Markus T. Bird, but he just wants us to call him Markus. I'd be alert in case he happens to come by here. He's a black Thunderbird with red stripes down the sides."

"Don't worry, I'll watch out for him."

"Sorry about the windows."

"That's ok. Don't worry about it." Sally smiled. McQueen held her gaze and then turned to go.

"I guess I'll be getting to bed."

"Good idea." Mack said, with another yawn.

Sally made a kissy face at McQueen. "Good night, Stickers."

Too late though. Lightning had already turned his back on her and followed Mack out to the main road.

The time was around three in the morning when Lightning McQueen was jolted awake in his trailer by a woman's screaming. His trailer was positioned just around the back of the Cozy Cone, a few feet away from the nearest cone. At first he didn't know what had awakened him. He sleepily and groggily glanced around his surroundings. He stood perfectly still and listened. He didn't hear anything except for Mack's snoring just outside, but then another scream came. He raised himself up on all four wheels and listened. It had been faint, but he was sure that it was Sally's voice. He quickly slammed his wheel down on the button to let down the trailer's ramp and proceeded to back out. Once outside he glanced around to see what it was that was going on. Everything was silent and still, as it should be.

Another loud snore came from Mack, causing McQueen to jump and look in the truck's direction. Mack was half leaning up against the side of the trailer, his mouth hanging open enough to make disgusting snoring noises.

"Mack." Lightning whispered. "Mack, wake up."

The truck continued sleeping, totally oblivious as to what was going on or that McQueen was even trying to get his attention. Getting frustrated, Lightning drove up in front of Mack and revved his motor a couple of times.

"Just five more minutes, Ma." Mack sleepily mumbled before jerking awake. "Oh! McQueen! It's you!"

"Shhhh!" McQueen shushed. "There's something going on around here."

"What?"

"I don't know, but it's not right. I heard someone scream and it sounded like Sally."

At that exact moment, another scream sounded through the night.

"There it is again! C'mon, Mack, let's go!"

Mack straightened up and began to slowly follow as McQueen softly and silently rolled forward toward the Cozy Cone. When both had stopped beside one of the nearest cones they could see Markus restlessly driving around in circles in the Cozy Cone lot. Sally was nowhere to be seen, however.

"What's _he_ doing here?" Mack whispered.

"I have no idea, but this easily explains why Sally would be screaming. But the question is, where is Sally?"

Lightning and Mack peered around at the cones, careful not to let Markus see them. Everything was as silent and quiet as it should be except for the restless pacing that Markus was doing. McQueen noticed that Markus's attention was focused on one certain cone; number three. As he looked closer he could see fresh dent marks in the door. Looking even closer, he spotted someone inside. It was Sally!

"You go away!" The terrified voice of Sally came from within the cone. "Don't you come near me."

"Not until you give me a room. And I'll come near you if I please!"

"You aren't getting a room here. I have the right to turn away guests, especially if they cause trouble."

"You aren't going to turn me away, sweetheart. You're too scared to come out here and face me!" Markus broke into an evil laughter before getting up speed and ramming himself into the door of the cone again, knocking over one of the potted plants setting near it. Sally screamed again, this time sounding more terrified than ever.

"McQueen warned me about you."

"Oh he did, did he?" Markus rammed the door again.

Mack and McQueen exchanged glances.

"He's got Sally trapped in there!" Said McQueen frantically.

"What is wrong with him? Is he crazy?"

"C'mon, we've got to chase him away so Sally can come out."

"How are we going to chase Markus away? You've seen how much of a bully he can be."

"I'm going to take care of Markus. You're going to go get Sheriff and bring him here."

"Ok, McQueen. I hope you know what you're doing." Mack began to drive off and around the back of the cones and towards the main road so Markus couldn't see him.

"That makes two of us." McQueen breathed to himself as he started forward. He revved up his motor, trying to make as much noise as possible, and sped into the lot, carefully swerving around the office. Markus's eyes widened when he saw where the sudden noise was coming from. He quickly moved out of the way just in time before McQueen could slam into the side of him. The red race car zoomed on by and out into the street, came to a sudden, screeching stop and turned around. He glared in Markus's direction and squinted his eyes. Revving up his motor again and squealing his back tires, Lightning sped off in an attempt to ram Markus again.

Unknown to Lightning, this time Markus wasn't about to move. He stood in one spot and dared the speeding car to run into him. McQueen braced himself for impact. He was so sure that Markus would move, but he didn't. McQueen slammed head on into the old Thunderbird, knocking the wind out of himself and sending Markus skidding and almost slamming into the Cozy Cone office.

McQueen didn't notice too much after that moment. He sat still for a few minutes and groaned in agony.

"Lightning? Are you ok?" He soon heard a familiar voice ask him. "Oh no. Stickers, speak to me."

"Is he alright, Sally?" He heard another voice join the first. The second voice sounded a lot like Mater's.

Poor McQueen wanted to open his eyes, but the throbbing pain in his head prevented him, not to mention the pain he felt everywhere else.

"Doc's on his way." He heard Sheriff say. "Mater, grab that troublesome brute and follow me to the impound. I've had just about all I can stand."

McQueen heard the clanking of Mater's tow cable hitch itself to Markus's rear. At this point he made an effort to crack one eye open enough to see what was going on. What he saw was a badly dented Markus, eyes closed, being pulled away by Mater with Sheriff leading the way. A satisfied smile formed on his lips as he closed his eye again.

When McQueen, again, opened his eyes the sun was warmly shining through the window of the cone he was in. The only explanation was that he had passed out. He moved up on all wheels and then groaned. He felt much better than he had felt when he rammed into Markus, but his jaw was still sore. He looked down and noticed that his red paint was badly worn off around the area that was sore. He groaned again and forced himself to press the button that would open up the door. Rolling outside, he soon found out that he was a tad dizzy too and leaned up against the doorframe to steady himself. In front of him were Sally, Doc Hudson, Sheriff, Mack, Mater and Ramone. They were all crowded around the office looking at something and appeared to be in a deep discussion. After a few minutes of fully waking up, McQueen spotted what they were staring at and what possibly was the center of the discussion. One of the windows of the office was totally broken out with shards of glass scattered all over the pavement. He could only imagine what the damage was inside.

"Hey! Hey, everyone! He's awake!" Mack suddenly and happily blurted out. Everyone's attention turned toward McQueen. Sally was the first one to drive up to him.

"I'm so glad to see that you're alright." She said in a relieved tone. "You had us all worried."

"How are you feeling, son?" Doc asked in his usual calm voice.

"I'm feeling much better now than I did last night." McQueen winced. "But my jaw's still sore. Ow! I feel like I was hit by a train. What happened anyway?"

"Either you're the bravest car I know or you're just plain crazy." Sheriff laughed.

"He's the bravest car you know, Sheriff." Sally smiled lovingly at Lightning. "Because he's certainly not crazy, at least he's not if I have anything to say about it."

"Boy, I would have given my back tires to see you in action last night!" Mater grinned.

"Would someone mind filling me in?" McQueen looked at everyone, confused. "I know I rammed Markus, but what started all of this anyway? What happened to Sally's office?"

"I was inside taking care of some paperwork." Sally began. "And I saw someone drive up. I figured it was just another traveler so I went out to see if they needed a room for the night. But turns out it was a car fitting the description you told me a few hours earlier. I approached with caution after I saw that it was indeed Markus. From the very moment I approached him, I didn't like the way he stared at me. And then," Sally's eyes started to water. "He started towards me. All the time he kept flirting with me and trying to push himself on me. I started to get scared so I quickly drove into the office and shut the door. But he kept coming. Before I realized it, he had picked up something and tossed it at the window. Glass went everywhere. I screamed, hoping someone would hear, and then I ran outside and just barely made it to one of the cones before he went totally insane. I thought he was going to follow me in, but the door shut before he could and he slammed into it."

"That guy is just insane!" McQueen shook his head.

"Then you came and stopped him." Sally smiled again. "You passed out a little while after it happened. Doc fixed you up during that time and we placed you in one of the cones for the rest of the night."

"What about Markus? From what I can remember seeing he looked pretty bad."

"He was." Said Sheriff. "I think he got the brunt of the crash. It took Doc two hours to fix him up and even now he's missing a lot of paint."

"I see you're missing paint too." Ramone drove up to Lightning to examine the damage. "But not to worry, I can fix that in no time."

"Thanks." McQueen smiled. "So what's going to happen now?"

"It's clear that Markus is going to spend some time in the impound." Sheriff said without hesitation. "He's caused way too much trouble. And he's proven to us that he cannot be trusted."

"And he's going to fix my window and the door to that cone he wanted so bad to break into." Sally added.

"Just for kicks, we're gonna make him pull Bessie around just for fun." Mater laughed.

"You serious?"

"Nah!" Mater nudged McQueen playfully. "You know I'm just kiddin'."

"Eh, if you ask me it probably wouldn't hurt him any." Said Mack. "If you ever put up a vote for it, I'm in favor."

Everyone burst out laughing.


	3. The Trial and Work

The courtroom was filled with all of the inhabitants of Radiator Springs. It was also noisy with everyone talking and jabbering at once. Everyone had already agreed that this wouldn't be a real trial but merely just a gathering to talk over what is to be done with the recent troublemaker.

"Better look out, buddy. I hear that Markus has made a full recovery and is in a purty grumpy mood." Said Mater, pulling up beside McQueen.

"You'd think the bashing I gave him last night would have knocked some sense into him."

"You'd a think that, wouldn't ya?" Mater laughed. "I can tell he's one o' them hardheaded ones, though. So it's ta be expected."

"Yeah, I guess." McQueen sighed. "I don't know, Mater. That guy creeps me out."

"How do ya mean?"

"I dunno. The way he looks at me; the way he looks at everyone. I don't trust him. I feel like he just came here in hopes of stirring up trouble."

"Ya could be right 'bout that."

Lightning and Mater turned toward the door where Sheriff came in with Markus beside him. The black Thunderbird was in restraints and hobbled in the best he could. His whole right side suffered paint loss where McQueen had rammed him the night before. The once perfect red lines were barely recognizable and silver showed where the black used to be. Unidentifiable red splotches grazed the rest, which everyone knew was McQueen's paint.

McQueen eyed his enemy from across the room. It didn't take Markus long to spot McQueen and when he did, he gave him a long, hard look that clearly said 'revenge' all over it. Even when McQueen turned away he could feel Markus staring at him. It gave him the creeps. Why did Markus hate him so much? Until yesterday, McQueen didn't even know Markus existed, and as far as he was concerned they were still strangers. Did the old car actually find pleasure in driving around to innocent towns and stirring up trouble?

Doc Hudson soon rolled into the courtroom and took his place behind the judge's podium. He sighed wearily while eyeing Markus. He'd gone through all of this too many times and he was fed up with it all. After a few hesitant minutes, he finally honked his horn to get order and immediately everyone fell silent.

"This court is now in session." Doc began. Instead of going through the usual court process, he turned to the only attorney the town had. "Sally, you take it from here. I think we all know the drill by now and I've had just about all I can stand. I'm tired of trying these spoilt, smart aleck hot rods. As far as I'm concerned, the car in front of me is old enough to know better and therefore his actions within the past 24 hours are purely uncalled for. If he had any sense at all he'd act like a civilized, mature car and enjoy what this town has to offer."

Everyone in the courtroom voiced their agreement with what Doc said.

"Enough with the lectures, old man," Markus snapped. "Just get this thing started so I can get out of here!"

Doc turned his gaze towards the Thunderbird. "Did I give you permission to speak?"

"No."

"Then shut your yap until you're called on."

Markus brought his eyebrows closer together and peered at Doc Hudson.

"If I were you, I'd watch my mouth in the future." Doc continued, and then motioned for Sally to take the meeting over.

"We all know the damages and," Sally nervously glanced at Markus. "Emotional strain this car has placed on our town within the past day. Sheriff, Doc, myself and several others have already decided that Markus T. Bird will repair all damages done to the Cozy Cone Motel before he is allowed to leave Radiator Springs. Whatever happens after that will be left up to you, Sheriff and Doc Hudson to decide. Now, any questions or comments?"

"After he's done serving his work time, I think he should leave this place before he gets himself into anymore trouble and causes anymore trouble." Sarge blurted out from the back of the room.

"Hey, like, show some love, man." Fillmore turned to Sarge.

"Oh shut up!" Sarge snapped.

"I'll be more than happy to leave!" Markus shouted angrily. "Can I speak now?"

Doc nodded.

"You couldn't pay me to stay one more day in this crummy town."

A burst of tears and sobbing suddenly came from one of the far corners of the room. Everyone turned to see Red, an extremely shy fire engine and the silent one of the group, trying to make his way out and through the door. Markus watched the situation with great interest and McQueen noticed it. In fact, he didn't like the way Markus eyed Red.

"I guess I _could_ stay a little while longer and actually enjoy what your town has to offer. That is, _if _you will have me." Markus turned back to Doc.

McQueen exchanged glances with Mater over Markus's sudden change. What was the old Thunderbird up to?

"In fact I'm willing to pay a little money for the damages. I pay for the damages to be fixed and that way I wouldn't have to do it. It'll give me more time to enjoy your friendly hospitality." Markus flashed one of his grins. "How much do you want?" Markus turned to the crowd of cars. "Name your price."

Doc Hudson narrowed his gaze. "Are you trying to bribe this court?"

"I betcha he don't have a cent on 'im." Mater blurted out.

"No, no! I'm not bribing." Markus continued as if Mater wasn't even there. "I'm just offering to pay for the damages. That's all."

"Sounded like a bribe to me!" Said Sarge. "He's doing it so he won't have to work!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Markus shot Sarge a threatening look.

"A bribe is a bribe and I will not have it in my courtroom. In fact I've had enough." Doc turned. "Sheriff, get this loudmouth troublemaker out of my sight. Lead him to the Cozy Cone where he can begin his work immediately."

Everyone piled out of the courthouse and off to do their daily activities. Sheriff, however, led Markus, still in restraints, to the Cozy Cone. Guido was waiting at the motel with a new glass for the office window and all tools needed to replace it. Markus sighed when he saw the job that lay ahead of him.

"How about removing this thing?" Markus said, lifting up the tire that had the restraint on it.

"Get over there and begin your work!" Sheriff sharply replied. "I'm going to keep an eye on you. And don't think you can try anything funny."

Meanwhile, at Flo's café, McQueen and Mater settled themselves down for an afternoon of relaxing. Although the trial's events still haunted McQueen's mind.

"What's tha matter?" Mater asked, noticing the troubled expression on his friend's face.

"I don't like the way Markus acted in that trial. I mean, why did he say that no one could pay him to stay here another day and then just up and change his mind and say that he would stay if we would have him?"

Mater shrugged. "Beats me. Sometimes you jus' can't figure some cars out."

"And I don't like the way he kept eyeing Red. He had that mischievous look on his face like he's up to something. Right after that is when he said that he would stay. You know, I hope he's not planning to hurt Red."

"Why would he wanna hurt Red?"

"Maybe because he's shy and sensitive. He'd be an ideal target for someone like Markus. Seems like bullies always love picking on individuals who may be shy or different than everyone else."

"I never thought of that." Mater turned to Lightning. "Jumpin' jackalopes! Maybe you're right!"

"I hope I'm not. And just between you and me, I think we need to keep a close eye on Red and make sure Markus doesn't go anywhere near him."

"Right."

After two hours, Sheriff drove up in front of the café, weary and frustrated. McQueen and Mater eyed him as he pulled up in front of them and stopped.

"Ya look terrible, Sheriff." Mater drove up beside the police car.

"I feel terrible. That Markus is nothing but a pain in the back bumper."

"You didn't leave him alone!" McQueen gasped.

"No, I didn't leave him alone. As much as he hated to, Doc took over watching him for me."

"What happened over there?" Flo asked; concerned at the way Sheriff looked.

"He broke two new glass windows trying to put it in. Kept claiming and complaining that he didn't know how to put in a new window. So he spent half an hour cleaning up the broken glass."

Flo shook her head.

"And after that, he complained even more."

"About whut?"

"Anything and everything! He's tired, he's hot, he needs something to drink," Sheriff sighed. "I think he spent four minutes complaining how crummy this town is."

"He sure does have an attitude problem." Flo huffed.

"I've never seen anybody so unhappy." Mater sadly added. "I bet he doesn't have any friends."

"Who'd want him for one?" Sheriff said, pulling up into the shade of one of the roofs.

"Everyone needs a friend."

"You're right about that, Mater," said McQueen. "But the way Markus is acting, he obviously thinks he doesn't need any friends."

"Somebody I know used to think tha same thing."

McQueen eyed Mater thoughtfully before a smile formed on his lips.


	4. More Trouble

The rest of the day passed without anymore upsets. In fact no one saw any signs of Markus after he finally finished putting the new glass in and fixing the dents in the door. They assumed he was either out joyriding in the desert or had taken their advice after all and left. No one ventured to find out. They figured that someone like Markus was best left alone. What he did was none of their business, unless it involved disturbing the peace.

That evening, when the sun was setting, everyone was gathered at Flo's café like any normal night. Everyone was gathered in a group and talking about the day's events while Lightning McQueen and Sally stayed far off to the other side on a date of sorts. It wasn't that private and one could hardly call it a date, especially when all of their friends were sitting across from them. But the good part is that none of them noticed. The day's excitement was enough to keep them all busy chatting for hours without so much as peering over at Sally and McQueen. As usual, something would spark a long forgotten memory in Lizzie's mind and she would go off jabbering about something that was only significant to her. And naturally she had to bring up the subject about Markus being somewhat handsome despite his attitude problems, which got a lot of weird stares and looks from everyone else. And when Flo wasn't talking and snuggling up to Ramone, she was busy serving refreshments to anyone who asked or wanted any, which distracted her from even coming over to where Sally and McQueen were.

McQueen silently smiled at Sally as they watched the chatter party across from them. She smiled back, softly nuzzled McQueen's cheek and sighed happily.

"I want to thank you for rescuing me the other night." She breathed. "With everything going on I haven't had a chance to say it."

"You're welcome." McQueen smiled even bigger.

Sally had hoped that what she said would begin a conversation, but somehow it didn't go into that. She was glad in a way. The evening was quiet and still, aside from the cars in front of them. Evenings like that didn't deserve anymore talking.

"Where's Red?" McQueen broke the silence when he noticed that Red was the only one missing.

"I don't know." Sally chuckled. "Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering."

"What is it with you and Mater? You two have been busy stalking Red all day."

"I'm just worried about him, is all. I didn't like the way Markus looked at him at the trial this morning. I feel like he's up to something."

"You think he's going to hurt Red?"

"I hope I'm wrong, Sally. I told Mater that we needed to keep an eye on Red to make sure Markus doesn't go near him."

"That explains all of the stalking." Sally nodded. "I doubt if Markus is around here anymore. No one's seen him all day, ever since he finished his work."

"Yeah," McQueen smiled nervously. "That's what worries me."

As soon as McQueen got the words out of his mouth, without any kind of warning Red came speeding through the café, sending Flo's displays flying in all directions and sending everyone running for cover. Flo screamed and dropped the orders she was, at that moment, carrying out to her friends. The fire engine paid no attention to the damages he caused and ran, bawling and crying, behind the café.

"If that was Markus, I'm seriously going to take him out back and whip up on him myself." Flo angrily blurted out while trying to pick up the mess.

"That wasn't Markus," Sally shouted over the chaos. "It was Red." She turned a concerned face to McQueen. "Maybe you were right after all."

"What's bothering him this time?" Sarge asked.

"I'm going to go find out right now." Sally answered, already driving off in the direction Red had disappeared in.

Behind the café, Sally found Red hiding out in the darkness, silently crying to himself. She approached him carefully, knowing how timid and skittish he was.

"Hey," she softly said, as if speaking to a child. "What's wrong?"

Sally knew it was useless to ask Red anything because his shyness always got the best of him and made him unable to speak, but she wanted to make Red feel comfortable. Actually she didn't need to do that. Red knew Sally well and he considered her a friend. Sometimes Red would even do things for Sally that he wouldn't normally do for anyone else.

"Is everything okay?" she continued talking softly. Red violently shook his head 'no' and continued crying, turning his face away from Sally and pushing himself up next to the back of the café building.

"Did someone do something to you?"

Red nodded, sniffing a few times. Sally remembered what McQueen had told her moments before and knew what her next question was going to be.

"Red," she started. "Is Markus involved with what you're crying about?"

Red quickly nodded and burst into even more tears.

"Did _Markus_ do something to you?"

Red again nodded.

"What did he do?"

Red silently eyed the ground, the biggest and saddest frown Sally had ever seen across his face. Tears continued to roll down his cheeks and his bottom lip quivered as if he would suddenly burst out crying again.

"Did he make fun of you? Did he smash your flowers? Did he hit you?"

Red nodded his head to all that Sally had asked.

"He made fun of you, hit you _and_ smashed your flowers?"

Red nodded before turning away and starting to cry again.

Sally softly shook her head and sighed. "Markus, what is wrong with you?" she breathed silently to herself.

When Sally came out from behind the café, everyone eagerly drove up to her in hopes of getting the information they needed to satisfy their curiosity.

"What is it, Sally? Was I right?" McQueen was the first to ask questions.

"Markus didn't hurt poor Red, did he?" Mater asked.

"I'm afraid I have to say yes to both of your questions." Sally sighed.

A startled gasp came from everyone.

"What did Markus do this time?" Ramone asked, a little bit of anger appearing in his voice.

"From what I could get out of Red, he made fun of him, hit him and then smashed his flowers. Red is out back right now crying his heart out."

"Aw, poor little guy." Said Mack.

"It's an outrage!" Sarge bellowed. "That car should be flogged until he can't drive straight!"

"Why do ya wanna flog Red!" Mater turned a worried look towards the army jeep. "He ain't done nuthin'. You can't whip an innocent car jus' 'cause he's sad."

"I don't mean Red, you idiot. I meant Markus!" Sarge hit the pavement with his wheel.

"Oh!"

"I agree." Luigi rolled up beside Sarge.

"He's determined that he's going to stay here or else even though he said that no one could pay him to stay here another day." Said Sheriff.

"He was just lying." Said Flo.

"Do I go arrest him again?" Sheriff asked.

"What for?" Doc Hudson calmly rolled up into the angry mob in front of him. "He hasn't done anything else to break the law. As much as we'd all like to, you can't arrest him for being his hardheaded and troublesome self. He'd sue this town and everyone in it for committing false arrest, false charges and goodness knows what else."

"You have a point there." Agreed Sheriff.

"So what do you suggest?" Mack asked. "We can't allow him to continue on like he's doing. We have our rights. From our side and view, he's a stranger who wandered into our town and started causing trouble without us asking him to do it."

"And no one provoked him either." Flo added.

All the time everyone had been discussing their problems, McQueen silently stood off to the side, thinking. Finally, he rolled forward and edged his way into the middle of his friends.

"Listen, guys. I've been thinking. Markus has proven one thing since he got here."

"Yeah! That he's a major pain!" Sarge grunted.

"That he loves challenge."

Everyone turned a puzzled look towards McQueen.

"It's true. Think about it. When he first pulled into the café, he tried picking a fight with me and Mater as soon as he could by calling us names. He wanted to get us so mad that we'd fight him. Then he came at Sally. He saw that she was too afraid of him so he got pleasure out of scaring her more than anything. But when I tried stopping him that night, he seemed to enjoy my game more. You notice that he didn't move when I rammed him. It was almost as if he was daring me to come toward him to show how tough he is. And tonight he tried making Red mad, not realizing that it was a loss cause."

"So you're saying that Markus wants to fight someone? And he's getting mad and frustrated because no one in this town will heed to his threats?" Said Sally.

"Exactly!" McQueen turned his gaze towards the blue Porsche. "Although I'm not saying that he necessarily wants to fight. He just wants something challenging to prove he's better than anyone else."

"And fighting one of us is the only thing he's come up with so far." Sally finished. "Or scaring one of us."

"It makes sense." Said Sheriff.

"So if this guy, like, wants to fight or whatever," Fillmore said in his slow, groggy voice. "How are we going to solve the problem?"

"Leave _that_ to me." McQueen mischievously grinned. "He's bound to come back to me sooner or later and when he does, I'm gonna be ready."


	5. Threats and Scares

The next day, McQueen slowly drove to Ramone's House of Body Art. With all of the excitement going on the past few days, he had almost forgotten about his scraped up cheek and top part of his mouth, which were still showing silvery metal color. Ramone had promised him that he'd fix it up at no cost.

Upon pulling up near the House of Body Art, McQueen stopped and gasped at what he saw. Out in front of Ramone's place of business he could see a massive battle going on between the Impala and Markus. Ramone, this time, was a bright neon orange color that looked somewhat iridescent. However, his precious new paint job didn't seem to matter to him anymore as he clashed with Markus, cheek to cheek and wheel to wheel. If Markus would try to get past, Ramone would swerve over to block him. Once or twice Ramone jacked himself up high above Markus, as if making himself taller would scare some sense into the old Thunderbird.

"If you think I'm gonna feex your scrapes, you gotta another thing comin'." McQueen heard Ramone shout before giving Markus another bash. "And you keep your tires off my wife! If I catch you around my wife again, you're going to see how mad Ramone can get."

McQueen quickly drove up to the battle and pulled to a stop beside Markus.

"Hey, Markus, chill!" he said. Markus pulled back and eyed the red race car. "What is going on here?"

"You wanna know what's going on?" Markus glared at both McQueen and Ramone. "_He_ won't fix my paint damage." Markus gestured towards the low rider.

"Is that true, Ramone?" McQueen turned toward his friend.

"Why should I? He's done nothing but cause trouble here ever since he came. I can refuse to do business with him if I want to. And anyone who keeps flirting with my wife is no customer of mine!"

"So what if I threw a few kisses at her. I didn't mean any harm by it."

Ramone started towards Markus again, but McQueen stopped him. "Listen, guys, we can solve this without the fighting. Ramone, I think it would be nice if you could fix Markus up."

"Wha?"

McQueen secretly winked at his friend.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah suuure. Ramone will feex him up nice." Ramone smiled and nodded that he understood. Truthfully, he didn't understand and he had no idea what McQueen had in mind, but he was going to play along with him anyway. He knew McQueen had plans for Markus so he would do anything he could to help out.

"I know Markus acts like a big jerk, but we've all got to be nice to him since he is, after all, our guest. Doc took care of the dents, now you've got to take care of the paint."

"Heeey!" Markus peered evilly at McQueen. "Who are you calling a big jerk?"

"Jerk! Did I say jerk?" McQueen smiled. Markus only glared. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Erm, Ramone, fix our guest up, will you?" McQueen backed away as Markus slowly rolled forward, all the time keeping his eyes on the race car. Ramone led Markus into his shop and closed the door.

When Markus came out, he looked new. One would never know he had been in an accident. Ramone gleamed with pride at his work of art.

"Good as new!" Ramone smiled. "Now, about the bill,"

"Forget it!" Markus snapped. "I don't have to pay you anything if I don't want to."

"Hey, man, you wanted a paint repair so I gave you one. You have to pay for it like anything else."

"Hah!" Markus huffed. "Who says? Huh? Who says I have to pay for anything?"

Markus gently nudged Ramone's cheek.

"It was just a couple of sprays of paint. Do you honestly think I'm going to pay for something like that?"

Ramone glared at Markus as he continued.

"Listen, low rider, I've been in other places before; places that are more secluded than this town. The folks there," Markus stopped to chuckle. "They got in their heads after awhile that I didn't have to pay for anything. Yeah, it's true."

Ramone remained silent, not daring to say anything. Markus got closer to his face and grinned.

"Do you catch my drift?"

The Impala forced himself to nod that he understood.

"Good." Markus pleasingly smiled. "And this conversation is between you and me. No one else needs to hear."

Not having anything else to say, Markus turned and drove off down the road and out of sight.

"Who does he think he is?"

Ramone turned and was relieved to see McQueen coming around the corner where he had obviously been listening.

"Someone who didn't pay for my paint repair." Ramone fumed. "And where does he get off saying something like that? Is he trying to scare me?"

"Sounded like it."

"I wonder if he was the reason that other town decided he didn't have to pay anything."

"You mean as in scaring and threatening them?"

Ramone nodded. All was silent for some time until McQueen broke the silence.

"Hey, I came in for that repair job you promised." McQueen grinned, changing the subject. Ramone smiled and led the way.

"After what I just went through, it'll be a pleasure, my friend."

"Kinda looks like you need a repair job yourself." McQueen nodded toward the scrapes and nicks in the paint on Ramone's cheeks.

"I'll take care of it after I feex you up."

It wasn't but a few minutes later when McQueen came out of the body art place. His once battered cheek and mouth were shiny red again and a new headlight sticker took the place of the old torn one. He thanked Ramone for the job and proceeded to drive off to see what other damage Markus was doing. He was tempted to tell Sheriff about the little incident he had just witnessed at Ramone's. In fact he would. Sheriff had the right to know what was going on and the threats and scares Markus threw at Ramone were totally uncalled for.

It was only a short drive to the café, but McQueen decided to take the long way around and come around by way of the back, just in case Markus was waiting for him. He turned and headed down a small back road that would take him directly to the café, but was suddenly stopped when Markus came out of nowhere and blocked his way.

"Well, well. I see someone else got a paint repair too." Markus circled around McQueen. "Looks nice."

McQueen was careful, very careful. All the while of Markus circling him he kept a sharp eye on him.

"I guess you think that I wasn't aware of you listening to the little conversation I had with your friend back there." Markus stopped in front of McQueen again and grinned. "Truth is, I knew you were around that corner the whole time."

Lightning's eyes grew wide.

"And I imagine that you're probably on your way to tell Sheriff all about it. Am I correct?"

"You'd better know you're correct!" McQueen came towards Markus. "I'm going to tell him everything and you aren't going to stop me."

McQueen started to go around Markus, but the Thunderbird moved to block him again and started to laugh in a way that sent chills down Lightning's back.

"You aren't going anywhere unless I say so. And I say you aren't going to see Sheriff about anything." As he spoke, Markus eyed a bug that landed on the pavement and then turned his attention back to McQueen. "If you go to Sheriff and tell him it just might make me a little angry."

McQueen narrowed his gaze.

"And believe me, you don't want to see me when I'm angry." Markus raised his wheel and brought it down sharply onto the pavement, squashing the helpless bug into something unrecognizable. Lightning gasped. "I tend to do things that I regret later."

"I know your game, Markus." Lightning smirked. "You're just scaring me to get what you want. Just like you scared Ramone into letting you go without paying for that paint repair you're now wearing. Well let me tell you something, mister. I'm not going to fall for it. It may have worked in other towns, but it's not going to work here. And you want to know why? Because I'm not only going to tell Sheriff, but I'm going to tell everyone what you did to Ramone and what you're doing to me."

Lightning started to go around the other side of Markus, but again the Thunderbird moved to block him. McQueen sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." Markus cleared his throat. "Did I just hear what I think I heard?"

"Possibly."

"You think you're someone smart, don't you? Just because you're a famous racer, you think you're someone smart and special."

"It's not that at all."

"You're just a stupid, immature, wimp and weakling of a car."

"Excuse me?" McQueen backed up in shock. "Apparently you haven't looked in a mirror lately, pal."

Markus's anger flared.

"I'm warning you, wimp." Markus backed up and turned to go. "You keep what happened back there and right here to yourself or you're going to find yourself lying on a lift in the hospital. And your old doctor friend won't be able to tell which end he's looking at."

After being satisfied that he got his point across, Markus turned and drove off and disappeared around a corner. Lightning let out a long breath and sigh, not fully understanding what all had just taken place. After getting his thoughts back, McQueen started forward. He knew what he had to do and he wasn't going to let some uptight, snobby car like Markus stop him. So what if Markus had threatened him and scared him? The town had a right to know what kind of car Markus was turning out to be and what the future possibly held for them all. Not only were they helpless in fighting Markus off, they were also his friends.

Lightning McQueen pulled into the café where Flo was busy serving a customer. McQueen was more than relieved to see Sheriff lazily relaxing and talking to Doc Hudson. He immediately pulled up beside the police car.

"Sheriff, I need to speak to you."

"Well go ahead, boy, I'm right here."

"Alone."

Sheriff's eyes raised a little and then turned to Doc. Doc nodded and turned to leave, but McQueen stopped him.

"No wait," Lightning hesitated a moment. "Maybe it's best that you hear this too."

Doc turned back around and got comfortable again and waited for McQueen to continue.

"I just got back from Ramone's." He started in a low tone. "And you won't believe what I've just witnessed."

McQueen told Sheriff and Doc the whole story, not leaving out one single detail. All the time he kept his voice as low as possible as if Markus was watching him from every corner, waiting for him to make a move like this.

"And he really threatened to beat you up if you told me about all of this?" Said Sheriff, after McQueen had finished.

"Yeah! He didn't come right out and say it in that way. He just simply said that if I didn't keep it to myself that I would find myself in the hospital with Doc not telling which end he's looking at."

Doc's eyes suddenly widened at the choice of words.

"Sheriff, I thought I needed to tell you. I don't want to see this town and everyone fall into Markus's grasp. If we let him he'll get this town so scared out of its wits that we'll be in his control before long. He'll get anything he wants from us without having to pay for anything. And we'll look like fools to him."

"I appreciate it, McQueen." Sheriff sighed. "You did right by telling me. I admire you for your bravery. You didn't have to say anything, what with Markus threatening you and all."

"That's why I wanted to speak to you in private. I don't want Markus to know that I told you. And I definitely don't want the rest to hear how Markus is shaping up. It'll throw everyone into a panic."

"Believe me; this will remain between the three of us. Right, Doc?"

Doc Hudson nodded.

"So do you still have plans on how to get rid of Markus?" Sheriff asked.

"Yeah, I do." McQueen smiled. "Although I'm waiting for the right moment. It hasn't come yet."

"How will you know when it does?"

"Oh, I'll know." McQueen again smiled. "I will know."


End file.
